Canada’s universities committed to enhancing quality in undergraduate education

New resource to help university communities improve learning experience, outcomes

OTTAWA, September 14, 2011 – With many Canadian universities experiencing record-breaking enrolments this fall, students and parents are increasingly focused on quality in undergraduate education. They can be reassured that Canada’s university presidents have made excellence in undergraduate education a priority and are taking action to strengthen the learning experience and outcomes.

“Universities of all types and sizes are enthusiastically looking at new ways of enhancing undergraduate education on their campuses,” Paul Davidson, President of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), told an audience of university and student leaders at McMaster University today. “AUCC is supporting our universities’ commitments and activities with respect to enhancing undergraduate education with a new resource that shares best practices, innovative techniques, recent research and opinions related to high quality undergraduate education.”

AUCC’s new online resource, entitled Great Beginnings: Enhancing quality and innovation in undergraduate education, was developed following an AUCC-led workshop on transforming undergraduate education last March in Halifax. Attended by presidents, vice-presidents, other university leaders and student leaders, this workshop involved a frank discussion about the current state of undergraduate education and what must be done to ensure it meets the needs of students and Canada now and in the future.

“There have been dramatic changes outside of the classroom over the last number of years and universities need to respond quickly to those changes,” says Patrick Deane, president of McMaster University. “We want to ensure we maintain the quality of what we do and continue to deliver programs that enrich and broaden horizons for students.”

Great Beginnings includes case studies of good practices in undergraduate education – techniques and programs that include interactive learning, problem-based study and hands-on research opportunities. It also includes a report on the March workshop, a bibliography of related publications and articles, and news items on this topic. This online information centre is a living resource that will frequently be augmented by new case studies, written materials and opinions related to strengthening undergraduate education.

“This is an important step in how Canada’s universities are working together for the enhancement of undergraduate education, but it’s not the only one,” says Mr. Davidson. Upcoming activities and projects include an AUCC-led workshop in December related to tackling campus mental health issues.

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Great Beginnings online resource
Report
Bibliography

For more information:

Helen Murphy
Communications Manager
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
Email: hmurphy@aucc.ca
Tel.: 613-563-1236 ext. 238